UFC denies ‘for sale’ report

LOS ANGELES: The head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) denied a report that the group is poised to be sold to a Chinese conglomerate.

UFC president Dana White told the Las Vegas Review-Journal late Tuesday that an ESPN.com report detailing a possible multi-billion-dollar sale was wide of the mark.

“The UFC is not for sale,” the Review-Journal quoted White as saying.

“The ESPN story is overblown,” he said, adding that the facts of the ESPN story “could not be further off.”

ESPN earlier reported that the UFC’s parent company Zuffa was in “advance talks” to sell the company, valued at between $3.5 and $4 billion.

Zuffa had attracted interest from at least four possible buyers, the report said.